opana shortage?

It's been a while since I was on here, but I can always count on you guys for the best information! I had to try four pharmacies before I could fill my Opana ER (20mg bid) in the Washington DC area. I have an appointment Wednesday - looks like I'll be seeing if there a sub for the Opana. Thanks again pharmers!

How'd it go, UMBT? Did you find a properly stocked pharm? You are most definitely not alone in the boat, Opana seems to be a "miracle drug", as you call it, for a certain number of people and the rest, like me, it doesn't help at all. I just got stung by Wallgreens for a 2 week outage of my main analgesic, Fentora. It's a local problem though so don't worry any of you that take this, to me, "miracle drug". . . Q

Watch out for that Bad Breath, it'll get ya every time. I was glad to hear that you are extremely happy with your new Oncologist, Thank God!!!!

I think that all of the above persons that mentioned the mishap in Nebraska are correct. It's directly affected the Opana manufacturing and this is the result. just a guess but I think I'm in the ball park.

While OPANA ER is being reformulated, that has been in the works for a long time. The final formulation was FDA approved in December 2011. The reformulation would not cause a shortage of the medication. The company would have just stopped shipping the old formulation, and instead, sent the new formulation in its place. There would not have been any shortage.

However, due to the problems at the Nebraska plant, there is a shortage of OPANA ER. Novartis and Endo did not know how long the plant would be shut down. So, they were advising physicians to not start any new patients on OPANA ER, and consider changing current patients to something else, until the plant was reopened.

The current shortage has nothing to do with their crushability.

The following is an article out of Reuters on the subject:
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ENDO WARNS OF OPANA, PERCOCER PAINKILLER SHORTAGES

WASHINGTON | Mon Jan 9, 2012 1:52pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Painkillers like Percocet and Opana from Endo Pharmaceuticals may be in short supply after their production facility was shut down for manufacturing and quality issues, the company warned on Monday.

Novartis, the maker of certain painkillers for Endo, said on Sunday it was shutting its plant in Lincoln, Nebraska, to fix problems such as pills getting chipped or broken in the production process, or medications getting mixed.

Novartis could not say how long the plant would be closed.

Quality issues and manufacturing problems contribute to most drug shortages in the United States, where 220 medicines were in short supply last year, up from 56 in 2006.

Novartis was the only manufacturer of an extended-release version of Opana, Endo's opioid pain drug. Endo said it was warning doctors not to prescribe Opana to new patients until it could devise other options to producing the pills.

The Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. drugs regulator, said there are alternatives to Opana, such as painkillers based on hydrocodone, oxycodone and morphine.

Endo shares fell 2.2 percent in afternoon trading on Nasdaq, versus a small gain in the S&P Pharmaceuticals Index.

Endo said other painkillers such as Percocet and Endocet could be made at a separate facility in Huntsville, Alabama.

"Given existing inventories, the expected restart of Novartis production and our ability to shift production to other facilities we believe the supply constraints of our products should be limited," said Julie McHugh, chief operating officer of Endo Pharmaceuticals, in a statement.

The FDA said on Monday there was a small chance that stray pills from Endo could have gotten mixed in with a different medication during production. Patients should stop taking their painkillers if any pills look different from the rest, the agency said.

But the agency said it was not asking Endo to recall its medicines, since the likelihood of a mix-up was low, and the painkillers are medically necessary.

Endo said it was aware of only three product mix-ups since 2009, and each time, pharmacists noticed the problem before the drugs reached patients.

I called ENDO last week when I tried to get my prescription filled and was told of "a manufacturer back order" and they "didn't know when they would get them in." I was told to call the prescription tracker number and see if they could find anywhere to get it filled but they called me back and said they were unable to find anyone in my area to fill it. I was also informed that they were going to resume shipping to wholesalers last week but after calling my pharmacy yesterday I was told they are still on "manufacturer back order" and still no word on when they would get them in.

My dr wrote an alternate prescription but the substitute makes me feel sick, jittery, and very very sleepy and the worst part it doesn't relieve my pain! I am in TN - and wondering if anyone has been able to fill their scripts yet?

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